Leg construction for chairs and the like



Fin-v 15, 1970 v a. b. NIGHTINGALE 3,528,635

LEG CONSTRUCTION FOR CHAIRS AND THE LIKE Filed July 29, 1968 INVENTOR BERNARD D. NIGHTINGALE United States Patent 3,528,635 LEG CONSTRUCTION FOR CHAIRS AND THE LIKE Bernard David Nightingale, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Nightingale Industries Limited Filed July 29, 1968, Ser. No. 748,244 Int. Cl. F16m 11/20 U.S. Cl. 248-1883 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to the construction of the supporting legs of an ofiice chair or table of the type having one or more central pedestals, and individual separate legs radiating outwardly from such pedestal.

-In the construction of ofiice chairs such as secretary chairs and executive swivel chairs, the normal practice is to support such a chair on a central pedestal from the bottom end of which three or four individual leg members radiate outwardly either substantially horizontally or angled downwardly, depending upon the particular design of the chair, and the legs at their free end are provided with casters. A somewhat similar con struction is frequently used in connection with tables, although in this case at the free ends of the legs there are usually provided adjustable feet members rather than the casters which are provided on chairs. Such individual legs are normally made of tubular steel and are chrome plated. In the past, the attachment of the caster, or the threaded adjustable foot member to the free end of the leg has been achieved by means of welding a piece of solid steel rod to the end of the tube, boring out the rod for part of its length, threading it if desired, smoothing and finishing the weld, and subsequently plating the entire leg and rod member. The number of different operations involved has rendered the construction of such legs somewhat uneconomic, and adds significantly to the manufacturers cost.

Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a leg construction in which use is made of thermoplastic molding techniques to form a one piece socket member of any suitable thermoplastic in a completely finished form which is then attached to the end of the leg after the leg has been chromed.

More particularly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a one piece integral socket member for use in association with a chair or table leg which is shaped and adapted to fit tightly within the end portion of such leg, and is provided with a foot receiving socket.

For the purposes of this invention it will be understood that the word foot will include any form of 3,528,635 Patented Sept. 15, 1970 ice caster, or foot member whether adjustable upwardly and downwardly or fixed.

The invention also relates to a leg construction for a chair, table or the like in which the legs are of tubular construction, and are provided with one piece integral thermoplastic socket members fitted into the ends of the legs, and defining foot receiving sockets.

The foregoing and other advantages will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is given here by way of example only with reference to the following drawings in which like reference devices refer to like parts thereof throughout the various views and diagrams and in which;

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective illustration showing a portion of a leg, the thermoplastic socket member, and the caster;

FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration corresponding to FIG. 1 showing the parts assembled, and,

FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of a pedestal base for a chair.

From FIG 1 it will be seen that this preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a tubular leg member indicated as 10 which in this case is of rectangular cross section, only the outer free end of such leg member 10 being shown, the inner end (not shown) being attached to a central pedestal (not shown), and being one of a group of three or four of such legs -10 which are arranged either in the substantially horizontal manner as shown, or may be angled downwardly depending upon the particular design (FIG. 3). The thermoplastic socket member is indicated generally as 11 and comprises a solid integral plug member $12 of rectangular cross section corresponding to the cross section of the interior of tube 10 and forming therewith a good frictional fit, and an enlarged bearing member 13 formed integrally with plug member 12 in a one piece injection molding operation. The lower end of member 1 3 is preferably formed with a fiat bearing surface 1 4, and the upper end of member 13 in this particular embodiment is formed in a hemi-spherical shape, although obviously the shaping of the exterior of member 13 may be subject to wide variation depending upon the taste of the particular designer; without departing from the invention. Within member 13 a socket recess 15 is formed for receiving the stem 16 of caster unit 17. The bearing ring 18 of caster 17, and the bearing surface v14 of socket member 11 are shaped to conform to one another and ensure a good fit. Stem 16 is retained within socket 15 by means of the conventional spring collar 19 which is standard on most casters in present day use.

It will be noted that the plug member 12 completely fills the hollow tubular leg member .10 along a portion of its length, the axis of the socket member ill being angled relative to the axis of the leg member :10, either normal thereto or at least at a substantial angle as shown in FIG. 6.

It will be understood that where the legs 10 are angled downwardly as in FIG. 3 the plug member 12 is angled in a similar manner, with member 13 and recess 15 being arranged vertical so as to ensure free rotation of the foot members.

The foregoing is a description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is given here by way of example only.

What I claim is:

1. For use in an article of furniture; a furniture leg having a foot member attached at one end, said leg being of hollow rectangular tubular construction and having a predetermined interior rectangular cross section, and a foot support for attaching said foot member to said leg without the use of screws or other separate attachment means and comprising a one piece molded plastic member having a solid plug portion of thermoplastic material of rectangular cross section of predetermined height and width shaped and dimensioned to enter along the axis of said hollow tubular leg and to fit tightly therewithin and completely fill the same along the length of said plug portion whereby to retain same therein purely by frictional engagement therewith, with the axis of said plug portion aligned with the axis of said leg member; an enlarged bearing member molded integrally with said plug portion having greater height and width than said plug portion and located, exteriorly of said tubular leg in end abutting relation thereto; a bearing face at the lower end of said bearing members, and a foot receiving socket 4 recess formed upwardly into said bearing member from the lower end thereof, and terminating short of the upper end thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,605,272 11/1926 Noelting et a1. 16-29 1,687,33 10/1928 Headley 2'4'8'1 88.8 1,844,113 2/1932 Beidler et a1. 1'63O 1,886,112 11/1932 Luarde 248- 1889 2,553,890 5/ 1951 Bloch 2481'88.7 3,186,669 6/196'5 Buhrmaster 24818 8.7 3,210,035 10/ 1 965 Vincens 248- 188.8 3,390,421 7/ 1968 Sullivan 248188.7

FOREIGN PATENTS 648,155 12/1950 Great Britain.

MARION PARSONS, 1a., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

